Mass Effect: Squadron Leader
by Obrusnine
Summary: A one-shot about Alliance Pilot Henry Jackson during the battle for Earth.


**So in a strange moment of sudden inspiration and boredom, I wrote this fanfic. It's based on my own Male Shepard, but that doesn't have much bearing on this one-shot. Enjoy!**

**Squadron Leader**

**By Obrusnine**

**Last Edited: July 7****th****, 2012 fD**

**(ED: Basic Edit / RW: Rewrite / fD: First Draft / FD: Final Draft)**

The time was now. The battle was here. It was time to take back Earth.

That was what the leaders in the fleet told the rank and file like Henry Jackson. They all knew it was coming, that they would have to protect the Crucible in one final mad dash against the Reapers. He walked slowly to his fighter, knowing what he was about to do was madness, that he would probably join the many who would die in this battle.

His personal mission seemed impossible, but he would do it because if he didn't, he would have nothing left to lose.

"Phoenix Squadron." The Squadron Leader addressed them as they began climbing into their fighters. There were five of them in this specialized squadron. They were the best of the best; they did what was told of them. "Today is the day we take back Earth, the day we save the families of everyone else down there."

They all knew that those families were probably dead, or had been taken by the Reapers for who knows what. But they knew they were all relying on Commander Shepard to pull through.

"I know you're all scared, even if you want to hide it. You've never faced an enemy quite like this, nor with the ability to do what they have done. But you can't let that fear cloud your judgment. No matter what, no matter how slim the chance, we have to fight, or die trying. Because if we don't, everything will be lost.

"I know you all have it in you, good luck."

The squadron leader pulled on his helmet and climbed into his fighter, which was painted to resemble a Phoenix. Each member had their own callsigns, and his was Beak, which was painted on both of his wings over the Phoenix painting.

Henry's callsign was Wareagle, just as Beak's fighter was painted to look like a Phoenix; his was painted to resemble an Eagle. The others were Wing, Talon, and Hawk.

"Everyone check in." Beak said over the radio as he activated his fighter's instruments.

"This is Wareagle; all systems are in the green." Henry replied.

"This is Wing, everything's alright over here." Wing said.

"Talon, same here."

"This is Hawk, let's get some killing done."

"Don't get cocky Hawk." Beak said.

"With all due respect Beak sir, screw off." Hawk replied jokingly.

"You should learn how to address your superior officer." Beak replied.

"Are you guys seriously going through this again?" Talon asked.

"You can screw off to." Hawk said. "For all I care, you can all screw off."

"Same old abrasive personality then?" Wing asked.

"Were you expecting something else?" Hawk asked.

"I know I wasn't." Beak answered. "Hey, Wareagle, you alright over there? You're pretty quiet."

"You guys are lucky your colony kids, my family is down there." Henry replied. He took the picture of his wife and son out of his pocket and slipped it into the gap between his dashboard and windshield.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry, I forgot." Hawk said. "You alright Henry?"

"We're in the cockpit, you should call me Wareagle." Henry replied.

"I'll take that as a no." Hawk replied.

"Cut the chatter, it's almost time." Beak said. "Wareagle, don't worry about your family. We're going to save them today."

"I know." Henry replied. "I'm ready to go."

He grasped his stick with both hands gripping fiercely.

"Good, because we're about to drop out." Beak said. "Prime your engines people."

Henry powered on his fighter and pushed up the throttle while keeping a firm press on his brakes. The ship lurched as it dropped out from the FTL jump. The hangar doors slid open in front of their fighters.

"Raise your landing gear."

They did as he told them.

"Launch!"

Henry released his brake and shot out of the hangar of the cruiser.

"Time to kick some Reaper ass!" Hawk yelled.

"Form up on me everyone." Beak said. They followed his instructions and formed on his tail. He swiftly banked until he was facing the Reaper fleet ahead. Thousands of fighters of all races joined them in their flight.

"That's quite the sight…" Talon said.

"You bet, never in the history of humanity or anyone else has a fleet this big been assembled." Wing said.

"Leave it up to Commander Shepard to blow us all away by uniting the Turians, the Geth, the Quarians, the Krogan, the Asari, and others into one humongous fleet." Talon replied.

"Hey, we're closing with the Reapers everyone. Power weapons and stop talking." Beak said.

"Yes sir." They all replied. Henry reached across his console and redirected extraneous power to his weapons and loaded his missiles.

"Okay everyone, almost there." Beak said. "Get ready to duck and roll."

Commander Shepard came on over the radio and relayed his instructions to the fighters as a ton of Red Eyes flew from the Reapers and started attacking the fighters.

"Now!" Beak yelled. They rolled out of the way as dozens of lasers arced across space towards them. Talon's wing got grazed.

"This is Talon, I took a hit but I'm alright. Kinetic Barriers seemed to take most of the damage and controls seem to be functioning alright."

"Try and fly _away _from the lasers next time Talon." Hawk said.

"Well no kidding, I didn't know to do that at all." Talon replied sarcastically.

"Shut up and open fire!" Henry said as they closed with them. He fired his guns and took two of them out of the sky as another few returned fire and he rolled out of the way. Hawk jumped in where he left off and fired his missiles, taking out four more.

"Watch it! They can't take many hits but they've got numbers!" Beak said.

"Watch it Beak, there's two of them on your tail!" Wing said.

"I see them." Beak said. He did a loop then let his fighter fly vertically above the two Red Eyes and fired, taking them both out.

"Nice move sir!" Wing said.

"Hey, watch yourself Wing; you've got three targeting you out of the swarm." Beak replied.

"I see them, firing missiles." Wing said. His missiles flew out of the sockets towards the Red Eyes, but one of them fired back and disintegrated the missile and scored a direct hit on his right wing. The other hit its target and sent it spinning into another. "Damn it, I'm hit and my controls are unresponsive, pretty sure he overloaded my barriers to. I need to reboot systems, someone take that last one out."

"I'm on it Wing." Henry said. He fired one of his missiles and scored a hit on the last one.

"Thanks Wareagle." Wing said.

"No problem, what's your status?"

"Okay, systems rebooted. My sticks a little sluggish and my Barriers are low, but I'm okay."

He sped through space and flipped to avoid another shot.

"Hey, Wareagle, I'm on your wing." Talon said. "Take us to a few kills."

"Got it, cover me; I'm going to get at that group over there." Wareagle said marking it with his targeting computer. He dived into the swarm launching his missiles and firing his guns. He took out a few and damaged a few. Talon then flew in behind him and mopped up.

"Ha! That's how it's done!" Talon replied.

"Shit, Talon watch out!" Henry yelled as one of the ones Talon had thought he'd finished off came back to live and fired at Talon's rear.

"What?" Talon asked. The gun scored a direct hit on his rear and tore through his barriers and then right through the ship and into the cockpit. It then exploded.

"Shit, Talon's down! Talon's down!" Henry said.

"What? No!" Wing said. There was an audible thump as Wing smashed his fist onto his console. Talon had been Wing's best friend, brothers in all but blood.

Hawk flew through and put a missile into the Red Eye that had done it.

"That'll teach the son of a bitch." Hawk said.

"Talon was a professional, we're all professionals, and he got taken down that quick…?" Wing asked.

"I told you that these guys were beyond anything we've ever faced Wing! Now get in your right mind and take my wing!" Beak said.

"Y-yes sir." Wing replied.

"Hawk, get on Wareagle's wing and don't make the same mistake Talon did!" Beak said.

"I'm on it." Hawk replied. "Come on Wareagle, these things need to die."

"Over there, that Quarian Wing is taking losses." Wareagle said. "Follow me in and hit the fringes with your missiles while I engage the heart of the swarm."

He did as asked, firing his missiles and hitting the outskirts of the swarm. This forced them to bunch together as Henry engaged the center with his guns and fired his missiles. The entire swarm was decimated in seconds.

"Woohoo! That's what I'm talking about!" Hawk yelled.

"Incoming communication from that Quarian Wing we just bailed out, they say thank you boys." Beak said.

"They better, we just saved their asses." Hawk replied.

"Speaking of asses, watch your ass Hawk, you've got four of them on your tail." Henry said.

"Pfft, easy." Hawk replied. He flipped his ship around while still keeping it moving in the same direction and swept up his assailants with his guns. Suddenly, as he did this a nearby Geth Cruiser exploded and sent them all flying in the opposite direction. "Holy shit! That was close!"

"That explosion weakened my barriers a bit, how about you Hawk? You were closer." Wareagle said.

"My engines were damaged but I'll be alright." He replied. They joined together with a group of human fighters unintentionally as Hawk kick-started his engines back up.

"Holy shit!" Henry yelled. A Reaper suddenly powered and fired its main laser, sweeping through the fighter group they were in. The laser brushed Hawk's side and sent him flying into a swarm of Red Eyes. Henry managed to avoid it barely. "Hawk… are you alright…?"

There was coughing from the other end.

"I… don't think I'm going to make it guys." He replied. "That laser annihilated my kinetic barriers and punched a hole in my cockpit, I'm venting atmosphere and my power is gone. The laser also fried my side."

"What are you waiting for, eject Hawk!" Beak said.

"Sorry sir, it's not working. Laser must have fried my internal systems."

"Oh no you don't!" Henry yelled. "I'm going to come and get you! I'll grab you with my wire and drag you back to the ship."

"I'm surrounded Henry, you won't make it in time. You… don't you fail alright… Take these sons… of… bitches… down…" Hawk said. His radio went dead and Henry saw an explosion in the distance.

"Shit! He's gone." Wareagle said slamming his fist into his console.

"This isn't the time to panic Wareagle!" Beak said. "Join back up with me and Wing."

Henry flew over to them and joined them as they engaged and took down a swarm of Red Eyes. Just as they did this, Henry finally saw an opening down below through which he could fly down to Earth.

"I'm sorry about this guys." Henry suddenly said. He broke off of formation and went full throttle towards the hole in the Reapers defenses… too small for anything but a fighter.

"What the hell are you doing Wareagle?" Beak asked.

"I'm going to save my family Jack." Henry replied.

"Sir! Watch out behind you!" Wing suddenly yelled. A Red Eye swept up behind Beak as he was distracted and fired at him point blank taking off his wing.

"Shit, my wings gone. Wing, take that thing out!" Beak said. "Henry, we need you get back up here!"

"Oh shit!" Wing suddenly yelled. A Red Eye swept by him and fired its laser directly at his cockpit, which tore through his kinetic barriers and destroyed his fighter.

"Henry, Wing just went down. If you don't get back up here and wire me back to the ship, I'll die!" Beak said. "Your family might be dead! Are you really going to abandon me here?"

Henry considered his options. Down below was his only chance to get back to Earth and see if his family was still alive, and up above was Beak with a mangled fighter and Henry as his only chance. He knew what he was going to do, and tears fell from his eyes.

"I'm… sorry Jack…" Henry said.

"I'm sorry to Henry." Jack replied. There was an explosion and a scream over Henry's radio.

"Jack, are you still there. Jack…?" Henry said. But he knew he was gone. He switched off his radio. He hoped he had made the right decision. His entire squadron was now dead, and Jack was dead because he had abandoned him. Hell, maybe all of their deaths had been his fault. He hadn't been paying attention, he'd been watching for the opening he needed.

"Shit!" He yelled. But he concentrated on what was in front of him and adjusted his heading for New York, making sure to skim the extremes of their Anti-Air range. He dropped his barriers and reduced power consumption across all of his systems to reduce emissions, making him much harder to detect.

This would make sure he wasn't followed.

It took a few hours with the reduced power to his engines as ships continued to fight and explode above. He imagined how it must look from the ground, like the world's greatest fireworks show ever, not like there was anyone to see it. But it was still something to behold from where he was sitting. He regretted all of the death, but he also knew that Commander Shepard would pull through.

Henry had heard of him. He never failed, no matter how high the odds were stacked against him. He was a hero in every way. Henry had believed his words long before they were proven to everyone else, he was often criticized because of it, but he stood by his belief in Commander Shepard. After all, he had been there in the battle against Sovereign when Commander Shepard had sacrificed the Destiny-Ascension and held back their forces to make sure they were fresh enough to fight.

The aliens criticized the decision because they did not understand. He had held them back to make sure they had the element of surprise they needed and to make sure that they were ready to fight. If they had saved the Ascension, then they may not have been able to take down Sovereign. But of course they took it as if Shepard had held them back just to preserve human lives, he despised that view.

But he was approaching New York now and had to focus on his own goal now. He opened up the letter he had received over the Extranet just a few hours earlier. It was a letter from his family, saying that they were in New York and still alive. He wondered how the hell they had found an Extranet connection with the Reapers having wiped all of the sources out, but he didn't really care.

All he needed to know was that they were waiting for him at the ruins of the apartment building where they had lived before the Reapers came. He closed the letter and repowered his systems, transferring all of his power to critical systems, Engines, and Barriers. He nosedived toward New York City. Almost immediately, a Hades cannon fired at him. But the cannon was to slow, it couldn't move as fast as his fighter and he avoided it easily.

It kept firing at him as he approached the ground, and he avoided every single shot. But as he approached the ground, he saw Husks running amok below, and suddenly a laser shot from down below almost hit him, but he managed to roll out of the way.

Before he managed to stabilize, they fired again. It tore through his rear barriers and right through his engine. He was thrown forward as the engine exploded. He grabbed his stick and tried to maintain control as alarms rang in his ears and a computer voice told him over and over to eject. But he couldn't eject because he needed the supplies behind his seat.

He angled the fighter towards a street as he went down. It smashed into it and he blacked out as his head smashed forward into his console.

He woke up as suddenly as he had been knocked out groaning. He looked around and saw two cannibals approaching. He pulled his pistol out from beside his seat and pointed it through the shattered canopy of his cockpit. He moved over some glass with it to get a clear view and fired at them. He managed to take them out after a few shots.

Henry pulled the pistol back inside the cockpit and put it back beside his seat. The alarms were still going off and the computer was still telling him to eject. He pressed the button to open the canopy, but it just lurched and stuck in place.

Because of this, he was forced to manually unlock the canopy and then push it open. He tore off his helmet and threw it out of the cockpit. He wiped his hand across his forehead as blood started to get into his eyes. His head felt like it had been hit with a frying pan, but he knew the hit would've killed him without his helmet on.

He stood up and climbed out of the fighter onto the pile of dirt right next to the destroyed machine. The fighter had made a mile long crater in the middle of the street where he had landed. Henry reached inside and moved his seat forward before grabbing the bag in the back and swinging it across his shoulder.

He pulled out the Avenger Rifle under it and stored the thermal clips in his pocket. Henry jumped down and looked around. There was nothing else around besides the two cannibals he had just killed, but he knew that the smoke would eventually draw more over. He looked around and spotted a nearby intersection. He ran over and found the street sign he had been looking for. The names of the streets were obscured by dirt, this forced him to climb up the sign and rub it off.

He found he was on the intersection of Washington and Roosevelt. This aggravated him, as his destination was more than forty city blocks away. Still, he hoisted up his bag on his shoulder and started walking.

The journey was slow; he had to avoid husks on multiple streets, often having to go completely around or through buildings. Multiple buildings had also fallen down and blocked certain roads, making it even slower. But he persevered, and sooner rather than later he finally saw his destination on the horizon.

He grinned and started running for it. He finally made it after a few minutes, breathing harshly.

"Lorna!" He hissed. "Max!"

"We're here honey." A female voice said from behind a wall. He flipped around and saw her sticking her head out. His ten your old son also poked his head out.

"Daddy!" He cried happily. He ran over and jumped into his father's arms. His wife came over and joined into the hug, he kissed her.

"I didn't think you got the message." Lorna said happily. "I wasn't even sure you'd come…"

"Of course I got the message. Also, you should know that I would always come." Henry replied. "It's… just too bad I lost the rest of Phoenix Squadron getting down here."

"Oh my god, Jack is…?" Lorna began.

"Yea, he's dead." Henry said. "I had to take the opening I had to get down here… had to sacrifice him in order to come and save you…"

"It's alright, I understand." She said. "But how are you going to get us out of here?"

"That building over there seems high enough, and it's intact." Henry said pointing. "Remember Kanis Vas Talbot? He's going to launch a pod from his ship to pick us up."

"The Quarians are here?" She asked.

"Yea, Commander Shepard united nearly every race in the Galaxy to come here and destroy the Reapers." He replied.

"Hm…" She said.

"Something wrong?" He asked.

"Oh, no it's nothing. We should get going before the Reapers find us." She said.

"Right, let's move." Henry replied. They ran for it to the high building nearby, proceeding to climb it and then step out onto the roof.

Henry pulled his bag off his shoulder and unzipped it.

"You guys hang tight." He said. He pulled out a high strength improvised Quarian radio that Kanis had rigged up for him to penetrate the Reaper's jamming. He raised the antenna and pressed down the button. "This is Wareagle calling The Talbot, can anyone hear me?"

There was no response.

"Again, this is Wareagle calling for the Talbot. Is anyone on this frequency?"

Again no response.

"Kanis are you there?"

"Sorry for the delay Wareagle, this is the Talbot responding. Are you ready to receive the package?" Came a reply.

"Hey Kanis, yes, I'm ready to receive the package. I'm setting up the beacon right now. Have you identified an insertion point?" Henry asked.

"According to the Reapers current movement patterns, we should have a proper opening to fire the pod in approximately two minutes." Kanis said. "I recommend you hurry Henry."

"Got it."

He dug through the bag and pulled out a red rod with four legs to make sure it stood straight. He ran over to the center of the roof and stretched the legs out before placing it. He reached under it and flipped the switch. It started glowing red and shot a red beam into the sky.

"Isn't that going to attract attention?" Lorna asked.

"Yea, but we don't have any choice." Henry responded. "Any other high-tech beacon could be suppressed by the Reapers jamming. This fires a high power laser light through the atmosphere so that Kanis can fire the pod precisely. Besides, Commander Shepard should be drawing attention over in London by now."

"This is Kanis Vas Talbot, we're about to fire the pod." Kanis said.

"I've got you loud and clear Kanis. We're ready for extraction." Henry replied.

"You should contact your Cruiser, the Manta was it? They'll need to know to pick you up." Kanis said.

"I'll do just that. Thank you Kanis…" Henry said.

"It was no problem." Kanis said. "I owed you one. I just hope the pod safely guides you back to your ship. Like I said… no guarantees."

"I know Kanis… If we don't make it… just know that I'll never forget you. Keelah se lai."

"Keelah se lai Henry."

Henry adjusted the frequency and urged his family to stand back.

"This is Wareagle calling the Manta." He said.

"Wareagle, this is Manta. We thought you'd went down, where are you? We're not picking up your fighter on scanners." A tech responded.

"There's no time to explain, but I'm down on Earth in New York. I'm about to launch back up in a modified Quarian Escape Pod, I need you to pick me up." Henry replied. There was silence for a few moments.

"We'll honor your request and adjust our vector to meet you over the East Coast." He replied.

"Thank you." Henry replied. Suddenly, there was a flash of light and the modified Quarian Escape Pod they had been waiting for flew down from the clouds before using reverse acceleration to stop itself in mid-air and drop itself down on top of the beacon. The hatch opened. "Okay guys, get in."

"Go ahead and get in buddy." Lorna said to Max. He complied.

"What are you doing, get in Lorna, we need to go." Henry said.

"I'm sorry about this Henry…" She said. She drew a pistol and pointed it at him.

"Lorna what are you…?" Henry started. He didn't get to finish the sentence because she shot him in the chest.

"I… the voices in my head told me to do it…" Lorna said. "I'm sorry…"

She started crying.

"You're… indoctrinated…" Henry said.

"Am I?" She asked. "I… don't know…"

"I… I forgive… you…" Henry said. Lorna walked away and stepped into the pod. The hatch closed, and then it launched upwards. He laid there for a few minutes just looking up into the sky as he died. Suddenly, there was a flash of blue light from the sky, and a blue wave of energy seemed to pass through him. "What…?"

"Wareagle, if your there… your wife just got here. She told us she shot you, and that she was indoctrinated. She said they sent her up here to take out our ship from within. We… have to leave. But… Commander Shepard, he did it… He did it…" The tech said. Then the radio went dead. He looked at it, and he grinned as blood dripped from his mouth.

"I… knew he could do it…" Henry said. Just as he said this, his world faded to nothing. But he died happy, knowing that his family was safe and that Commander Shepard had achieved his goal, just as Henry had known he would.


End file.
